The present invention relates generally to ultrasound image quantification and more specifically to a system and method for brightening or highlighting a curve corresponding to a selected region of interest (ROI) figure of an ultrasound image and dimming other curves corresponding to unselected ROI figures during image quantification.
Traditionally quantitative analysis of ultrasound image data has been performed on-line, i.e., on the ultrasound system itself. Because of the limitation of performing complex analyses within the clinical workflow, quantification has been limited to two-dimensional x-y data such as areas and lengths, and the analysis of Doppler waveforms. This is due primarily, to limited computational speed of the acquisition/display system and patient workflow management. More recently, complex analysis and measurements have been developed for off-line workstations. Current developments in computational speed are allowing the user to access more complex quantitative analysis both on-line and off-line (e.g. at a PC workstation) in a timely manner. The clinical practice is moving away from just anatomical imaging, to imaging methods which provide functional assessment. This information may be quantitative in nature, which gives the clinician access to physiological data in the management of their patients. These users will require tools to assist them in analyzing this information in a time-efficient and reproducible manner.
Despite the increase in computational power to perform more complex analyses on ultrasound images, there is still the need for user interaction with the ultrasound image data. Ultrasound images are typically stored in movie form, called xe2x80x9cCINELOOP(trademark) sequencesxe2x80x9d. Since ultrasound is an inherently real-time imaging modality, CINELOOP(trademark) frame rates are typically in excess of 30 Hz (30 frames/second). Therefore, even a modest 10 second CINELOOP(trademark) image sequence contains over 300 image frames.
Accordingly, there exists a need for enabling a user to interact with the ultrasound image data. Specifically, there exists a need to brighten or highlight a curve corresponding to a selected region of interest (ROI) of an ultrasound image of a CINELOOP(trademark) image and dim any other curves associated with unselected ROI figures.
An aspect of the present invention is to provide a system and method for brightening or highlighting a curve corresponding to a selected region of interest (ROI) of an ultrasound image of an image sequence and dimming other curves associated with unselected ROI figures.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a system and method are provided for simplifying off-line quantification of ultrasound images by displaying a graphical user interface showing a real-time ultrasound image for enabling a user to freeze the real-time ultrasound image to display an image sequence capable of being modified and played back by the user. Upon freezing the real-time image, the graphical user interface displays a tagging system having a corresponding identification tag for each ultrasound image of the image sequence. When the user selects a particular ROI in the frozen image, the curve corresponding to the selected ROI is brightened and the other curves are dimmed.
The system and method of the present invention are embodied by at least one software module having a series of programmable instructions capable of being executed by a processor for performing its respective functions. The software module includes a series of programmable instructions for enabling a user to select a particular ROI in a frozen ultrasound image and to brighten a curve corresponding to the selected ROI and to dim the curves corresponding to other ROIs.
The software module is preferably stored within a memory storage device, such as a computer hard drive, within a memory module, such as a RAM or ROM module, and/or on a computer readable medium, such as a CD-ROM, and is capable of being accessed for execution by the processor. The software module is preferably incorporated within a software quantification tool for use in off-line image review, quantification and interpretation of ultrasound images and other related data.